On Nicks, Gettleman could be the man to watch

A year ago, receiver Hakeem Nicks appeared to be on track to be a major name in free agency — if the Giants didn’t sign him to a long-term deal and if they didn’t apply the franchise tag.

Neither has happened, for obvious reasons. Nicks had a horrible contract year with the Giants, and the Giants by all appearances are ready to move on.

And so the Panthers become an obvious alternative. Apart from the fact that Nicks hails from Charlotte and played at UNC, G.M. Dave Gettleman knows Nicks well. As one league insider explained it on Tuesday, perhaps too well.

Even though Gettleman has been gone from the Giants for more than a year, Gettleman has enough friends and former colleagues to know what happened last year in New York with Nicks. So for the same reasons the Giants apparently want to move on, Gettleman may never want Nicks to move in.

It’s not as if the Panthers don’t have a need at the position. They do, and if Gettleman doesn’t want Nicks, that could be the biggest red flag for any other team out there.

If we lose Smith and get Nicks, they with both be terrible moves. Smith is our leader and the reason his production dropped is because he’s double teamed on every play. There was no point in covering Lafell or Ginn last year. Nicks is always hurt and clearly gave up on a ton of plays last year. We don’t need another lazy receiver. He’s not a #1 anymore.

It is a good point to consider, but if I’m a GM of another team then I really don’t care what Gettleman thinks. He could very well be making a mistake as he seems to have kind of a funky idea about the types of players he likes. That fool thought it was a good idea to keep Steve Smith last year and burn him sloppily this year. I’ll evaluate Nicks myself and don’t need to have Gettleman’s notes to figure it out.

Just because he hasn’t called, doesn’t mean he’s not interested. From what we’ve seen from Gettleman, he’s a very responsible spender. Her traded Beason, restructured several bad contracts, brought in many “mid level” free agents last year that all panned out (for both sides). I believe Gettleman has a plan. And he’s sticking to it. Why pay top dollar to Nicks today if you know there’s not a lot of interest from other teams. The Panthers can probably sign him to a one or two year deal in a few days. Or wait until after the draft to see what pans out with Steve Smith and the draft.

My bet is Nicks will end up in Charlotte on a short term deal for around $1.5M-$2M. He’s a better receiver than Ted Ginn Jr. but not as fast. Nicks isn’t a #1, but a very good #2.

As a Panthers fan, who watched Nicks throughout college and who saw his immediate impact in the NFL, I would be leery of him coming to Charlotte. Injuries, attitude, going home to be influenced by friends and family, can be dangerous.

The problem is, Gettleman was influential with Nicks selection, as he was in charge of evaluating college personnel for the Giants. That wasn’t hard because everyone knew Nicks was a beast coming out. The larger issue is that Gettleman has displayed a great degree of being out of touch, by alienating the community and team members too. WE HAVE ZERO RECEIVERS!!!

We had 17 FAs coming in and Steve Smith. This guy didn’t call any of them to show any interest in them. Now, players are retiring, rather than play for him. (Gross, Hangartner, …?) So we are painted into a corner, where Nicks may be our only option to field an experienced WR. It may be our only play.

Anyone who thinks a healthy Hakeem Nicks isn’t a #1 WR didn’t pay close attention to the Giants. Hakeem Nicks is straight-up dominant when healthy. He can’t play for my Giants anymore – he burned his bridges – but every team should want him on a 1 year flyer ‘prove-it’ deal. He had the 3rd best postseason ever for a WR after Jerry Rice and Larry Fitzgerald- you don’t just put up numbers like that without special talent.

12 months ago, I thought that Nicks was a better receiver than Cruz. With Nicks playing at the top of his game, it took pressure off of Cruz, and they both excelled. When Nicks was hurt, Cruz’s production wasn’t as solid.

I was concerned that the money we eventually gave to Cruz would force us to lose Nicks.

Then Nicks basically held out (showed up but didn’t work out) during camp.

During the season, Nicks routinely wouldn’t fight to get balls he normally was able to grab with his mammoth hands. He wouldn’t run out patterns… Basically, he dogged it all year, just so he could remain “healthy” for when he got to free agency.

I can understand health issues. I can’t understand when a player mails it in. I don’t want Nicks back – and anyone who is interested – Caveat Emptor…..

Panthers Fans have displaced Franchise player syndrome. What this team has never never had, is a Franchise QB. So we have hung our hat on the next best thing, a WR. Smitty is by far the best WR and player we’ve had…. until we drafted Cam Newton. Smitty has been our lone Franchise palyer on offense for years. The problem is, we didn’t have anyone to throw him the ball. Now that Cam is here, we have our Franchise QB and unfortunately, as much as it pains me to say this, Smitty isn’t the center of the offense anymore. He never should have been in the first place. It’s like two ships passing in the night, so close yet so far away. We were very close to having 2 franchise offensive players at their peak at the same time on the same field. Unfortunately smitty peaked about 3 years ago. I hope we keep him but smitty has to be willing to restructure his contract and I feel he doesn’t want too. It’s a two way street Smitty, please restructure and stay

It makes no sense to cut smith. I like the idea of nicks and smith. When receiver is a big need I just don’t get that move at this time. We changed to a running offense ofcourse his production slipped that’s what happens and he also doesn’t have a compliment. I don’t know. I’m pretty frustrated with it. Maybe ASK if he’ll take a pay cut?

The media boggles the mind as they gloss over Nicks’ injuries like he was nursing hamstrings or something. He was slowed down by foot and knee problems, lol. When he is healthy, which should be the only concern for any team, not that he was “dogging it,” he is reminiscent of Michael Irvin in his prime in how he plays.

The media is acting like he puted with hamstring pulls or something. He had knee and foot problems, which would be more of the reason any team should scrutinize him. When healthy, his play was reminiscent of Michael Irvin in his prime.

jgedgar70 says:Mar 12, 2014 12:01 PM

I can’t decide if all the talk about Hicks dogginit last year are a result of declining skills, lack of desire or lack of wanting to play with the Giants anymore. If he’s still skilled and motivated, I would love to have him and Smith together (provide DG comes to his senses and keeps 89). Between those two, Greg Olsen, and one of the RBs out in the flat, we could have a very good passing game.

With all the signs pointing to Smith’s elease,and total silence from the Panthers on FAs (has DG talked to ANY free agents yet???), I’m starting to think DG’s plan is to get a whole new WR set from the draft and free agent leftovers. I hope I’m wrong, that would let some good potential players, like Nicks, slip away.

justintuckrule says:Mar 12, 2014 4:33 PM

All of you are blowing Nicks’ failures WAYYY out of proportion. He didn’t all of a sudden how to forget to be a beast. Clearly, he went into the dumps after Cruz signed his contract. The team that signs him will be out to prove doubters wrong. Healthy…he’s a top 10 WR.